The Beginning of the End
by Mochi
Summary: This is my fanfic on the fastest thing alive! This fanfic will have at least 10 parts when completed. The story begins with a new character roaming around the ruins of Knothole. Interested? Read the fic! ^_^
1. Default Chapter Title

A Sonic the Hedgehog Fanfic

Created by [Dragon Star Slayer][1] 10.17.99

This is a much better version of Part 1. Everything is the same but I've fixed some problems (grammar errors, story errors, etc.) and added a little more stuff. The epilogue will appear in the last part of this entire fanfic. Enjoy! ^_^

Disclaimer: All characters were created by SEGA, DiC Inc., and Archie Comics, with the exception of the one's that I've made.

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New Characters appearing: Sly (Echidna)

Title: The Beginning of the End...

Part One: A New Freedom Fighter...

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Prologue

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Knothole...all in ruins. Nothing has been spared since the war ended. The war almost marked the end of the Freedom Fighters. Mobius is again in Dr. Robotnik's hands. A mysterious figure strolls around and scours the ground, looking for anything that can be useful. He hears a clunk as his hands hit the ground. Excavating around the object, a picture appeared as he moved the dirt away. While picking up the object and the picture, he hears a noise nearby. He looks around to find nothing there. Cautiously, he remains quiet while looking at the photo. It was brittle at the edges and the color had faded. "They must be alive...they just have to be! But...where would they be..." he thought. Looking all around him, he saw nothing but the ruins and the rest of Mobius in the distance. Mobius was in its worst shape ever. Because of the war, lots of plants and animals have been destroyed, along with many Freedom Fighters. The remaining Fighters had to retreat just to save themselves from Robotnik's powerful bots. Now scanning the picture, he recognized the blue figure in the foreground, cramming cake into his mouth while everyone else was laughing in the background. He also identified what seems to look like a dog with a tail split into two. Again, he heard a noise nearby. Still, nothing was there. Immediately, he realized this was the same "dog" that was seen fighting alongside with the enemies. "This can't be...he couldn't have...but...how? I've got to tell Sonic!" Something from behind started to attack him. He tried to dodge, but something was holding him down. With his neck and legs pinned to the ground, he looked around to see who, or what, was there. He saw the shadow of a very round man.

"Robotnik," he yelled.

Robotnik grinned. He knew that his traps were still working and he tried to hold in his harsh, hearty laugh while looking at the helpless figure.

"Let me go! I'll show you what it's like to suffer!"

"Not a chance...at least not with that attitude. How lucky you are to have survived the war, but now you'll regret being alive! Even if you're trying to find Sonic, don't bother, I have HunterBots looking for him now. He should be dead in a matter of days; in fact, he could be dead already!" He chuckled silently. "Snively! Bring this pest along, I have plans for him."

"Yes, sir," Snively said.

"Not if I can help it!" The person took out a strange looking "pineapple" and dropped it.

"What the..." Robotnik started.

Instantly, a big burst of smoke swirls all around, obstructing everyone's view. The mysterious person broke the bots that were pinning him down and dashed away. Robotnik started yelling something as AttackBots shot lasers while, at the same time, racing after the individual. After dodging a few shots, a laser hits the figure as he runs, grasping the object and the picture tightly. Blood started to spurt from the wound. He let out a shrieking howl while running, throwing as many odd looking "pineapples" he had. 

"Where is he?!" bursts Robotnik.

"We lost him, sir," Snively said.

"Damn! It doesn't matter. He must be looking to see if Sonic is still alive. He probably doesn't even know where to look. Let him go...he won't find anything."

Robotnik lets out a laugh as he calls all the bots back and returns to his base. Along the way, Snively resets the traps in case anyone else decides to visit the ruins of Knothole.

Still running, feeling immense pain from the wound, he had a thought: "I must find some Freedom Fighters! They're in danger and I have to help them! It'll be all over if everyone dies!" He continues to run off into the distance, hoping he can find Sonic. "Time is running out...all will end if nothing is done!" The sun starts to set over Mobius. A cool wind sets in as the night slowly creeps in, calming the pain the large gash on his shoulder was giving him. "Sonic has to be alive! He's the only one who can help end all this!"

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Part One

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Sadness occupied the air as Sally made coffee for everyone. During the war with Robotnik, Tails was looking around for land mines, making sure none of the other Freedom Fighters would get hurt touching one. Antoine was nearby when he saw Tails being ambushed by bots he had never seen before. Antoine tried calling the others, and by the time they reached him, Tails was already gone. Sonic was away, trying to destroy Metal Sonic, one of the bots Robotnik programmed to kill Sonic. He managed to escape, but almost died in the process. And yet he mysteriously disappeared. Once the war ended Sonic and Tails were never seen again. Already, seven months have past since it ended, and their hopes of finding them slowly faded away. Everyone was taking this matter very seriously, and couldn't stop shedding tears.

"We shouldn't have started that war so soon! I can't stand thinking of what happened!" Antoine whaled.

"Calm down...here, drink some coffee," Sally said.

Bunnie and Rotor were looking at a picture with Sonic and Tails racing each other. Of course, the picture was blurry, but they could make the two out. 

"Even though we started too soon, we didn't have much of a choice. Robotnik had already launched most of his robots before the war started, which gave him too much of an advantage. When Knuckles found out about this, it was far too late. We can't blame ourselves for this...not this time."

"I guess you're right Sally," Bunnie said. "Let's go outside and watch the sun set, and get our minds off of things."

Antoine and Rotor finished their coffee and followed Bunnie and Sally outside. They all made their way up to the top of the hill. The sun touched the horizon, grabbed it, and slowly pulled itself in. All four sat down quietly calming themselves down from sobbing. Each of them stared at the sun slowly falling, seeing the destruction that was left from the war. Lots of cities were annihilated, and the landscape was nothing more than a few trees and a river. The Great Forest managed to survive, but ever since the pollution from Robotnik's base plagued Mobius, most of the forest has died, as well as other locales of Mobius. Out of nowhere, they see someone walking in the distance, heading in their direction.

"Who could that be," Rotor asked.

"Let me check," Sally said, spitting up her coffee.

She gets a set of binoculars and looks through them. Focusing the lens, she can make out a recognizable figure.

"It's Knuckles!"

"What?! He made it back? This is great," Antoine yelped as he jumped for joy.

"Alright Knuckles!" Rotor and Bunnie yelled, waving to Knuckles.

"It looks like he's carrying someone...we better go and help him," Sally said.

All four ran towards Knuckles, who, because of the unconscious person, was struggling to keep on his feet while running up the slightly steep hill. Once they reached him, they helped and asked Knuckles all sorts of questions, finding out what went on during his four-month absence. 

"Did you make it to Robotropolis," Sally screamed.

"Where did this person come from," Bunnie blurted.

"Did you find anything, perhaps any wine," asked Antoine in a calm voice.

"Any luck finding Sonic," Rotor bursts.

"Calm down people! I'll tell you everything once I get settled in," Knuckles said.

Evening came and Knuckles took his time getting reacquainting with the camp. He laid the unconscious person down, not liking what he was seeing. "I've seen him from somewhere," he thought. He briefly told everyone what went on during those four months.

"I didn't find much in Robotropolis, but something or someone was there. I couldn't make out what it was though. Floating Island is a death trap! There were traps, robots...you name it, and it was there! I obtained the information from the Launch Base, but I had to disguise myself as a HunterBot to get through. I was caught, so I took off...and the GuardianBots pounded me with their lasers!"

"I can't believe you went through all that!" Sally was amazed. "I thought for sure you would die out there, but I guess I was wrong."

"How can you say something like that? You really wanted him to die out there?," Rotor asked.

"Sorry. I knew it was too risky to send you out Knuckles, but you were the only who could've pulled it off."

Knuckles remained silent. Sally felt awkward from what she said. She thought nothing of it and disregarded it.

"Why is Floating Island so full of traps? Do you think something, or someone, could be there," Bunnie asked.

"We should look into it," Antoine said, keeping a stern eye on the unconscious person.

"Yeah. But the only thing stopping us are those traps," Rotor said.

"We should plan out everything...at least that way, we won't run into too many problems," Knuckles said, grabbing a chair and sitting down.

"Hold on everyone! Don't you think we're moving a little too fast here? We still have to deal with that sleeping guy over there." Sally was indeed happy that things were picking up, but she didn't want all their ideas to come out all at once. "Let's think about all this in the morning, It's getting very late."

Rotor yawns in agreement. "It's already 11:15 p.m. and I have some work to finish. I'm out... See ya in the morning."

"Good night," everyone else said. All went to their rooms to sleep, and Antoine slept next to the person, who was snoring quite heavily. Knuckles remained where he was, pondering away.

"Another echidna?! How is that possible? And why was he in Robotropolis?," he thought, remembering where he had seen this person before.

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Inside the inner depths of Robotnik's new base, Snively checks around to make sure all the security measures are in place. Everything inside the base looked very similar to that of the one in Robotropolis. Meanwhile, Robotnik himself is having a feast in his Main Office. Gnawing down all the food off the plate and slurping up the remaining jugs of wine, he let out an ear-piercing belch that echoed through the base. He then returns to work while one of the ButlerBots took all the dishes away. He checks out the reports from earlier that day on the person that they found in Knothole. Then, he searched a database full of profiles to see if any matches came up. "He has to be in here," he thought. The computer was searching the entire database, which would take almost an hour. He patiently waited, playing a few cards games and an RPG he created (a game where he kills Sonic and the Freedom Fighters and wins no matter what he does). Finally, something came up. He threw all the cards off his desk, stopped playing the RPG, and looked.

"Well, this is interesting," he said. 

He scanned the profile, leaving out no details. The profile had some of the few details:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Name:

Sly

DOB:

Unknown

Age:

17-20

M/F:

M

ID #:

Echidna-08A-0142

First captured in Aquatic Ruins Zone on 3.323.1505*. Managed to escape his holding cell in Robotropolis before being roboticized. He was last seen in Knothole, 9.154.1737. Has not joined the Freedom Fighters for any reason whatsoever or has made contact with them. May pose a threat, must be terminated immediately.

Characteristics: Has abilities similar to Hedgehog-02D-8857 (Sonic) and Echidna-94E-9923 (Knuckles). Capable of destroying objects using an unknown weapon...No other information has been acquired.

* 3.323.1505 stands for how much time Mobius was in Robotnik's hands. The 3 signifies the years, 323 is the day of that year, and 1505 is the time (military time for those who don't recognize it). So, Sly was first captured on Year 3, 323rd day at 1505 hours (3:05 p.m.). You will be seeing this throughout the fanfic, but not too often.

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"Hmmm...Maybe he can be useful after all. If only he didn't escape...he could've made a good prototype," he thought. He went to his Com Device and opened a frequency.

"Snively!"

"Yes, sir," Snively asked.

"Have the HunterBots look for Sly. Make sure they don't come back without him!"

"Right away...deploying the HunterBots now sir."

"Thank you Snively. Bring in the latest reports from the ScavengerBots, and bring our little friend up here, I have a special assignment for him."

"On my way..."

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Morning approached as Knuckles started making breakfast. The sky is bright blue as the sun gleams down on the Marble Garden Zone. A small camp was set up several weeks into the war. Since then, a few of the remaining Freedom Fighters that were nearby came here for Sally's instructions. They would go out to different areas of Mobius, and sometimes Robotropolis, where Robotnik abandoned his base there. Traps were set up there by Snively, just in case someone wanted the information from the outdated computers. This camp served as a hiding place from Robotnik, who, despite having HunterBots search Mobius day and night, has not been able to find it. It looked more similar to a small house rather than what ordinary camps would usually look like. Though it is small, the camp had tons of equipment, so much of it that it would fill up Knothole five times over. The smell of pancakes and bacon lifted Rotor from his straw bed. He made his way over to Knuckles, where he was cooking up a storm. Alongside him was Bunnie, helping Sally with the extremely hot volcanic stones that burns everything on contact. Antoine kept an eye on the unconscious person, making sure the bandage on his wound was changed occasionally. 

"Almost done," Knuckles said, "I'm getting hungry just looking at all this!"

"Yeah," Bunnie said, "It's making me hungry too!"

Antoine didn't feel like leaving the inanimate echidna alone, so everyone else decided to eat with him there.

"Mmm...these pancakes are really good," Sally said.

"Thanks! I've been trying to make these come out right for quite some time now, and I finally got it down," Knuckles said, swallowing some juice.

"We should get started on making that plan," Rotor said.

Sally agreed. They began discussing the matters at hand, leaving out no details or problems.

"Okay, we have Floating Island full of traps, the information from the Launch Base and Robotropolis, Sonic is still missing, and we still don't know what happened to Tails. What should we start with first," Sally asked.

"Sonic," Rotor said.

The others agreed. They knew they can do well without Sonic, but from what they saw during the war, they had to know if he made it out alive and where he's been. Bunnie suggested that search parties be formed and go around Mobius to find him.

"That could work out well. I'll contact the rest of the Freedom Fighter groups and inform them about this," Sally said.

They continued on with making plans for their visit to the Floating Island, everyone receiving instructions on what is needed for this mission. Rotor, as usual, had to build a few things, Bunnie and Antoine would tag along when he needed some help. Knuckles was assigned to go back to the Floating Island and survey its surroundings, looking for weak spots from the electric barriers and faulty traps. Sally would keep in contact with everyone while she went out gathering anything else needed for the mission. The information from the Launch Base and Robotropolis were encoded. Nicole had a difficult time going through all the loops and bad encryption codes, which slowed her down, causing severe battery drain. Knuckles had a brief look before the information was forcefully encrypted, and knows he didn't like what he saw. He kept quiet when asked about the information, and when he did speak, he only said, "I don't know." No one has asked since he came back the night before and he assumed no one would ask again, but he knew someone will. Antoine sighs in disbelief.

"We have to find both Sonic and Tails! How much worse can it get," he asked, not wanting an answer.

"Don't worry, we'll find them," Rotor said.

"We should really try to get this guy to wake up. I'm just dying to know what happened to him," Bunnie said.

"I'll see if Nicole can detect anything from him," Sally said, stopping Nicole from examining the information and waved it over the lifeless body.

"That reminds me, how did you find him Knuckles," Rotor asked.

"After completing the spy mission Sally sent me on, I passed by the ruins of Knothole. It looked as if someone came through there and set the traps off that were left behind. I was about halfway between Knothole and here when I saw him struggling to walk. He tried to tell me something...something about finding Sonic, but he passed out." He made a slight pause before continuing. "From what I can tell, he may know something about the disappearance of Sonic..."

"Do you think he really knows what happened to him," asked Antoine.

"I don't know..." Knuckles said, drifting.

Sally noticed the expression on Knuckle's face. She had never seen that look before, and didn't like it all. His face showed signs of harshness. He was deep in thought while he continued to eat. She knew something was wrong. 

"Well...he's an echidna alright," Sally said, "I need to turn him over and check his wound now."

"I'll give you a hand," Bunnie said.

Bunnie gently lifted the person and turned him onto his right side. The wound was healing well, thanks to Sally's limited knowledge of medicine. While she changed the bandage, something fell out of the echidna's vest pocket. 

"Hey! What's that," Sally asked.

"It's a picture," Bunnie gasped.

They all gathered around to look. It was the picture of Sonic cramming cake...

"How did he get this?!" Rotor uttered in shock.

"He probably found it," Bunnie said.

"I don't like this one bit," Antoine interrupted.

"We don't have anything to worry about...he's probably not after Sonic..." Knuckles said in a low voice. He was reminded of something that happened...

"Are you alright Knuckles? You were fine a few minutes ago," Sally asked.

Knuckles pretended to be normal.

"I'm okay...really," he said, still in a low voice.

"I think it's time for me to send out some new instructions to everyone," Sally said, leaving the room.

"I wonder what's wrong..." Sally thought as she continued walking towards the Communications Room. She started to send transmissions throughout Mobius, despite the danger of Robotnik intercepting the messages. The messages contained special fragments of words or encrypted codes that only the Freedom Fighters can understand. They also had instructions to continue searching for Sonic and Tails, which, when the reports come in every now and then, always come up with nothing. Sometimes the reports would have people encountering a fox or someone in a trench coat, but no one knew what to make of it. Sally was then uploading new reports into Nicole when Rotor starting yelling.

"Sally! Come quick!"

"What is it," she yelled while running back over to the room everyone was.

"He's starting to wake up," Knuckles said.

A few minutes have passed while they let the echidna recover from his long sleep. He looked around, noticing all the strangers looking back at him.

"Are you all right," Sally asked.

"Ugh...I think so...OUCH!" he said trying to get up.

"Don't move, your wound hasn't healed yet," Bunnie said.

"Alright...I'll just lie here," he said in pain.

"Can you tell us how you got this picture," Antoine asked.

"I found it in Knothole. I was digging to see if I could find anything that Robotnik left behind. Just when I saw the picture, I also found this." He took out the object. "Once I found it, one of Robotnik's traps went off and I was pinned. He was about to take me back to his base, but I escaped using this." He took out his last "pineapple".

"What's that," Rotor asked.

"It's my specialty, the pineapple grenade! I can make several different kinds, but ever since I left the Floating Island, it's difficult to find all the necessary ingredients."

"Floating Island," Knuckles gasped. "But...I thought...."

"You're not the only echidna from that place! I was born there as well."

"How is that possible," Rotor asked.

"Let's worry about that later. For right now I want to know where I am."

Suspicious as Knuckles was, he still couldn't help wondering how another echidna exists.

"We're in the Marble Garden Zone. May I see that object," Sally asked.

"Sure."

Sally took the object and had Nicole examine it. A familiar mark was seen on the cylindrical device. Nicole started scanning the object.

"I had to find you guys to tell you about him," he continued, pointing to the fox in the picture.

"You've seen Tails," Bunnie shouted.

"I think so...he may be fighting alongside with Robotnik."

"Tails fighting with Robotnik?!" Rotor exasperated. "This is not turning out well." He turned away, deep into thought.

"I just hope it's not true," Antoine said, disgusted at the fact that Tails may have been roboticized. He whimpered softly.

Nicole finished scanning the object and gave the results to Sally.

"It's..." she started.

"What is it Sally," Antoine and Rotor asked at the same time.

"It's...Sonic's Holo-Projector!"

Sonic received this item on his birthday. At the time, everyone was glad that Tails thought of it, and of course, Sonic liked it. He kept it with for most of time, leaving it only when he had to do personal errands. Everyone gathered around Sally as Antoine helped the echidna up.

"Is it working," the echidna asked.

"I'm not sure. Let's see if Nicole can help," Sally said.

Nicole did some calculations and started working on the device. A few moments later, A picture of Sonic can be seen. He was being chased by Metal Sonic.

"What's he saying," Rotor asked impatiently.

"Let me fix it," Sally said, adjusting Nicole's output. "I think we can make it out."

Though the video and audio was messed up, they tried to listen very carefully:

"Sally...need to find...has access to...Robotnik's base is...get Tails away...out near...power rings are...not much time...get out before...responsible for kidnapping...name is..."

The audio failed. They saw Sonic dropping the projector and fighting Metal Sonic. An explosion was seen and the projection stopped. They all sat there staring at the object while its energy was slowing draining away. Looking at each other, they didn't know what to make of it, but Sally gave it a try. Knuckles turned away. He starting to think about what happened...

"That's odd. Did Sonic find out where Robotnik's base is? Who has access to what? There's too many questions, yet not enough answers," she said

"Yeah. We still don't know what really happened to Tails, and there's no way we can find power rings any more, now that the Power Ring Grotto was destroyed," Bunnie said.

"Do you think Sonic found another source of power rings," Rotor asked.

"It's too soon to tell. Let's all finish up our breakfast, finish up that plan, and have this echidna here tell us who he is," Sally said.

"Alright...The name's Sly."

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"Dr. Robotnik, I have some news for you," Snively said over Com Line 1.

"What is it?"

"Our little friend has reported in, and it looks like he found something for us."

"Excellent. I knew roboticizing him would do us some good. What did he find?"

"He found the location of Sly, as well as a small camp with some Freedom Fighters."

"Where?"

"On one of the mountains in the Marble Garden Zone. I'll give you the coordinates."

Snively sends the coordinates to Robotnik. He gave a very wide grin as he brought a map onto his computer screen. 

"Thank you Snively. You know what to do..."

"Yes, sir."

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A few bots found their way to the Marble Garden Zone. With them was a robot fox. He looked up at the camp, which was far up on a mountain. He called the HunterBots that were sent out to find Sly and had them come to his present location. He continued to look at the camp, making sure his plan wouldn't fail. Before the fox left the base, Robotnik gave him a chip. The chip was to be used when he raided the camp, but what it was for, he didn't know. He waited for twenty minutes before the HunterBots arrived. Instructions were given as they prepared to raid the camp. Finally, they started up the hill, ready for destruction.

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Sly continues to tell the others about himself. He talked about where on the Floating Island he came from, and how he managed the first time to escape Robotnik before being roboticized. He continued with how he made his pineapple grenades, how he looked similar to Knuckles, with some notable differences, and so on.

"So that's how you make these things," Rotor said amazed.

"Yeah. It's pretty easy once you know," Sly said.

Sly looked at his wound and saw the dried blood on the bandage. He was still in pain, but managed to grit his teeth every now and then. Knuckles leaned against the door, looking out at Mobius. He couldn't help wondering why those events happened during those four months... He came back into the room, sat down and let out a sigh. Sally was staring straight at him, not knowing whether to ask what was wrong or keep quiet. The others kept asking Sly questions, not bothering to look away.

"So, now that you're here, do you think you're ready to become a Freedom Fighter," Bunnie asked.

"I don't know. Fighting Robotnik has never been easy. Just look at this." He pointed to his wound. "I almost got killed by one of those AttackBots!"

"Well, you'll be ready to go once that heals."

"Yeah. When I am, I'll fight along with you. I can't wait for Robotnik's down fall!"

Antoine was outside in the lookout tower, made to look like one of Robotnik's transmitter towers. His shift was already over and started to climb down. Once he was on the ground, a few HunterBots and someone he recognized surrounded him.

"It's...it's...him!"

He tried to yell, but was pinned and knocked out with sleeping gas. The robot fox gave the signal to raid the camp while one of the bots took Antoine away. The fox himself went towards the room Sly and others were in.

"Did you hear something," Knuckles asked.

Bunnie looked out one of the windows.

"We're being attacked!"

"I thought you said Robotnik couldn't find this place," Sly yelled.

"I don't know how he did it...it could've been those damn HunterBots," Sally yelled, as she attempted to shut all the doors.

"How the hell did they find us?!" As Knuckles made his way to another room, he saw a familiar figure standing in front of him. It was dark so he couldn't see who it was.

"Who's there?!"

"..."

Knuckles made out two glowing eyes looking straight at him.

"What are you doing in here? Speak up!"

The person just stood there. He came out the shadows, still looking straight at Knuckles.

"Tails!"

He was shocked to see him roboticized. Tails' eyes never moved off Knuckles.

"What did they do to you?!"

"..."

A HunterBot came from behind and held Knuckles in the air. He couldn't move. Tails walked toward him and took out a cloth. It had a sleeping gas solution on it. He gave it to the HunterBot. Knuckles tried to hold his breath in, yet Tails punched him in the stomach, and made him force it out. Instantly, the cloth was over Knuckles face, and he was knocked out. 

Meanwhile, Sally fights off the other HunterBots with laser gun. Sly tried not to use his last grenade, so he grabbed a gun and started firing as well. Most of the bots were destroyed, yet more were coming in.

"I don't know if we can hold out any longer," Sly yelled.

"I think we can," Sally said, shooting down more bots.

She dashed over to a computer console and opened a cabinet. Laser fire was coming from all directions. Struggling to find a Lightning Gun, she had Sly use his last grenade. Smoke filled the entire camp. Sally finally finds the gun, and starts firing, although she couldn't see. Sly took cover while the firing took place. Bunnie and Rotor made it outside. Bunnie tried to get the electric barriers up while Rotor was fixing the console that made them work.

"Is it working yet," Bunnie asked as the smoke clears.

"No! All the systems are jammed!"

Bunnie continues firing at the incoming bots as Rotor tries to get the console fixed.

Sly and Sally managed to destroy the bots in the room. They look around to see if there were any more.

"I guess we held out after all," Sly said.

"Where's Knuckles?"

"I haven't seen him. We should look for him."

"I'll look down this hall. You go that way," Sally said, pointing in the opposite direction.

Both ran off, looking in every room. Sally came to a room that was locked. She overrides the controls and enters. The lights were on and she saw no one. After looking around, she attempts to leave, but the door slammed shut. There was no other ways of getting out.

"Oh, great. I really needed this," she said sarcastically.

She tried jamming the controls from inside the room, but nothing worked since all the power was cut off. The emergency release switch was also destroyed, so she was pretty much stuck. She sat there, grasping the lightning gun in case someone tried to barge in. At the same time, Sly reached his end of the hall with only one room left. He heard muffled noises coming from inside. With his gun ready, he quietly made his way to the door, not knowing what was on the other side. The power was failing throughout the camp, yet Bunnie and Rotor still tried to get the barriers up. 

"I thinks it's working! Try it now," Rotor yelled.

Bunnie punched a few buttons on the console. The barriers started to appear, but they faded away.

"What happened?!"

"All the power is gone. We can't get them up again," Rotor said regretfully.

"We better get out of here then, no need for us to get caught."

They both ran back to the camp, trying not to run into any more bots. Once there, the entire place was a mess, and silence filled the air. They looked around and found no one.

"I hope they're all okay," Bunnie said cautiously.

"Me too..."

Just then, they heard guns firing. They ran and took cover over by a wall. They saw HunterBots and ScavengerBots flying by with Sly being held by one of them. Along came Tails, who just happened to see Bunnie and Rotor hiding. He stopped and stared at them. Bunnie was stunned to see him there as a robot. Rotor was shocked as well. Tails took off, throwing a grenade at them. Bunnie and Rotor manage to escape, but the effects of the gas started to kick in, making them fall asleep.

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"The time is now 1905. Where are they," Robotnik roared as he waited for the group of bots to return to the base. Snively came with some wine to calm Robotnik down. While looking out at the moon and Mobius, something Robotnik heard caught his attention. He was receiving a transmission. It was Tails. He turned on a nearby monitor and saw Tails. Sly and Antoine, both lifeless, were being held captive by HunterBots floating behind Tails.

"Well, I see you accomplished your mission."

"..."

How much longer before you get here?"

"Ten minutes..."

"Good. I'll be expecting you then."

Robotnik walked back to his office and started to play the RPG. He was at a part where he was fighting Sonic one-on-one. Robotnik was pounding Sonic with all sorts of crazy crap. He was winning in no time! Robotnik found it too easy, so he set it to the highest level of difficulty. Both were having their asses kicked, but Robotnik came out with a final attack, slashing Sonic into bite size pieces (yummy!). 

"I just love this game," he said, right when another transmission from Tails came in.

"You're here already?"

"..."

"Alright...let me open the gates."

Robotnik opens the gates to the base. Tails walks through, along with the other bots. Sly and Antoine were still inanimate. Robotnik came down to greet them.

"Ah...You got Sly for me, and a fellow Freedom Fighter...excellent. Put them in a holding cell, I'll deal with them personally."

Tails took the weapons from Sly and put them in a storage container. The container was later examined and destroyed. In the meantime, Robotnik, Tails, and everyone else went to their quarters to rest. 

*********************************************************************************************

Morning dawned once again over the now ruined camp. Everything is silent when Rotor slowly wakes from his long nap. He sees Bunnie nearby and wakes her up.

"...What happened?"

"We were ambushed by Tails...remember?"

"Oh..." she said in a low voice.

"Hey! Where are the others?"

Rotor helped Bunnie up and they started to look around. Bunnie came up to the room where Knuckles was lying asleep.

"Knuckles! Wake up!"

"Huh? Wow..." He looked around. "Those HunterBots really did some damage," he said painfully.

"What's that on your head?"

Knuckles looked into a broken mirror.

"It's a scar! How did I get this?"

Suddenly, both of them heard banging on a wall close by.

"Get me out of here!" Sally screamed.

Bunnie came over to the door where she heard her.

"The power is out. We'll get you out somehow!"

"Hurry up! I have to use the bathroom!"

Rotor ran out to the power generator, which was trashed.

"Aww...shit! That was a perfectly good generator!"

He examined the generator, and found it to be completely useless. Outraged, he blasted the generator to pieces with his laser gun. Afterwards, he ran back to the camp.

"The generator's busted," he said to Bunnie and Sally.

All throughout the Marble Garden Zone, a scream echoed from the camp. It was Sally.

"Calm down! We have a backup generator, you know," Rotor said.

"Umm...that was trashed too. I saw a ScavengerBot firing at it," Bunnie said.

"Shit..." Rotor muttered, still upset.

"HURRY UP DAMMIT!"

"Here, let me help," Knuckles said.

He went up to the door and started punching it. Dents were formed each time he hit the door, but it didn't break through.

"Let's try the laser guns," Bunnie said.

Bunnie and Rotor took out their guns, and after telling Sally to stay away from the door, they fired. The door started to melt. Soon the whole door liquefied and Sally races out towards the bathroom. The others couldn't help but laugh, yet they didn't want to insult her. Sally can hear them, but she let the laughing slide, since this wasn't the first time she had to go through this.

*********************************************************************************************

"...Where am I," Sly said, finding himself in a straightjacket. 

"We're in a holding cell," Antoine said, already awake and also in a straightjacket.

"That's right," Robotnik said as he appeared out of nowhere.

"Robotnik!" Sly yelled as he ran up to him, but was stopped by an electric force field. He fell back, hitting his head on the wall.

"Don't hurt yourself now. I need you for a special project," Robotnik grinned.

"What project?"

"No need to ask, you already know."

"What?!"

Antoine held Sly back from hitting the force field again. Robotnik smirked at his persistence.

"Where's Tails," Antoine blurted.

"He's with us now, and just as a safety precaution, he went through a special roboticizer, which caused him to lose all his memories. Now he answers only to me!"

Robotnik started laughing as Sly and Antoine watched in disgust. Antoine started to cringe at the fact that Tails was gone. Sly stared at Robotnik, in spite of Antoine's whimpering.

"The Freedom Fighters will find you, even if you turn us into robots! You won't--"

"Quiet!"

Robotnik shot lasers at the two and both fell unconsciously to the ground. He went back to his office and turned on the Com Device.

"Snively, are the modifications ready?"

"It'll be another ten minutes, sir"

"Good. Prepare our two guests while you're finishing up. I'll be down shortly."

"Yes, sir. It'll be our best chance at destroying the Freedom Fighters as we know it."

"Yes...it is indeed."

"Contact our friend in Robotropolis, he'd want to be here to see this."

"Already taken care of, sir."

"Good."

Robotnik was so pleased as to how recent events turned out, he had the ButlerBots cook up a huge feast, and started playing that RPG again. The base was full of activity, the camp in the Marble Garden Zone is now in ruins, and the war between Robotnik and the Freedom Fighters continues on. A dark clouded sky looms over Mobius, creating shadows everywhere. Inside Robotropolis, a transmission was received, and someone began reading it.

"Well...this should be fun! Nothing compares to seeing those Freedom Fighters getting roboticized!" He laughed on his way out the door, taking a large jewel with him...

*********************************************************************************************

****

End of Part One

*********************************************************************************************

Part Two Preview:

Knuckles knows something that the others don't. Dreams start to plague his mind as he recalls what went on during his four month absence. Sly and Antoine, captured by Tails, await "testing" as Robotnik and Snively call on a friend to come and witness their newest creation. Who is this person and what does Knuckles know? Read part two and find out! ^_^

C: 10.29.1999

R: 11.1.99

2nd R: 11.29.99

U & 3rd R:3.15.2000

[Dragon Star Slayer's House][2]

   [1]: mailto:dragonstarslayer@dbzmail.com
   [2]: http://dragonstarslayer.tripod.com/



	2. Default Chapter Title

A Sonic the Hedgehog Fanfic

Created by [Dragon Star Slayer][1] 11.1.99

Disclaimer: With the exception of the people I've created, SEGA, DIC INC., Archie Comics, and anyone else I forgot to mention created all characters. ^^;

****

Links to Part One: [(At tSf)][2]****[(At Dragon Star Slayer's House)][3]****[(At Kodra's Fanfic Archive)][4]

****

Note: tSf has a slightly outdated version of part one. Though most of it is the same, try the other two links to see the differences.

New Characters Appearing: Kaeru (Human, Scientist working for Robotnik)

*********************************************************************************************

****

The Beginning of the End...

Part Two: Nightmares...

*********************************************************************************************

The night sky held a wondrous sight. The ocean was lit from the soft luminescence of the moon and Mobius is as peaceful as it had ever been. It was like the coup never occurred. Off in the distance something was hovering inside some clouds, overlooking the land in the sky. Patiently, the young pilot awaited his command. Meanwhile, on the island, three people made a startling find.

"Snively, how much longer?" Robotnik grew impatient.

"I've got it, sir! I'll be right up," Snively said.

Snively was staggering up a steep hill, dragging along a sack with a large object inside.

"Well done Snively. I could've done it myself, but I can't fit into such a small hole."

"You can't fit into anything," Snively mumbled.

"WHAT...was that, Snively?"

"Nothing, sir." He reeled back from Robotnik's thundering voice.

"Did you put in the replacement," the person asked.

"Yes. It's as if nothing was moved," Snively said, grinning sinfully.

Robotnik took out a device and started talking. Moments later, a HoverBot came by and all three hopped in. Tails was piloting, readily awaiting departure. The thrusters ignited and they blasted off.

"You did set the traps, right," Robotnik asked.

"Of course I did, Doc. You thought I'd forget such a thing?"

Robotnik grinned. "Good."

The fat man was pleased. One month after the end of the war, the person sitting next to him introduced Robotnik to the D2F2 Project. He was a great asset for the team once he was hired. Robotnik had yet to see his true abilities, knowing almost nothing about him at the time. Along with Snively and Tails, it was a sure bet that they would have the greatest chance for success. Most of the information about the project has been kept a secret, certain that no one else would ever find or even hear of it. Up until now, the four have worked on the project. Its intent was solely on one goal... 

"This island in the sky looks even better at night," the person said.

Robotnik and Snively nodded as they flew off into the night. The moon shined brightly as the island became a silhouette. Laughing was heard off in the distance as the HoverBot unhurriedly disappeared.

*********************************************************************************************

The clock read 10:45 P.M. The camp was surrounded in complete silence and everyone was fast asleep. Walking to his room, Knuckles yawned with relief.

"The day is finally over! I can actually get some rest," he said. 

He had just finished a day of treasure hunting, finding lots of jewels, but no emerald shards. Some of the shards originally came from the Master Emerald, which have broken off over time. Though Knuckles knew where some were hidden, there are still many he hasn't found and he hopes to find them all soon. After using the bathroom, he slipped into bed, and breathed a deep sigh.

"In a few days, I have to go back to the island and check up on the emerald, yet I have to come back and help the others." He turned towards the window, looking out at the full moon. He saw a little speck on the face of the moon, and he knew it was the Floating Island. "Sonic has to be out there somewhere...we still have a score to settle." Drowsily, he closed his eyes and fell asleep...

Darkness surrounded him and light was illuminating from far away, yet it cast no shadows. He heard a door close off in the distance. Something from behind was coming towards him.

"Is someone there? Answer me!"

A cloaked mechanical hedgehog appeared, continuing its approach.

"Sonic...is that you?!"

Someone else appeared and walked towards him as well.

"Tails! W-w-what have they done--"

Both started assaulting him. Tails pinned him down while the robot hedgehog strapped on a straight jacket. Then, they took him over to a machine, their new version of the roboticizer.

"What are you doing?! Let go!"

His attempts to break free were stopped with constant punches to his head and stomach. He was strapped inside the machine, and the door closed. A mixture of blood and sweat was running down his face. He lowered his head in pain. Sonic and Tails went over to different consoles on each side of the room. They both started pushing buttons that made the device start up. Looking out from inside, he yelled out as loud as he could. The machine made a whirring noise, which startled the echidna, making him look in all directions. Tails reached over to a switch above his console. He held it as Robotnik entered the room, making sure the entire device was ready. Someone from behind came in the room as well, following Robotnik. Both saw the strapped echidna, and grinned viciously.

"Too many times have I seen Fighters like you get caught and get roboticized. I guess one more couldn't hurt!" The person came up to the echidna and stared at him. They both stared. One was full of anger, holding in the pain from the beating that he received just moments earlier. The other was chuckling softly, casually putting his hands into his lab coat pockets.

"This poor echidna will soon be on our side," he said, still grinning.

"Indeed," Robotnik said.

Robotnik gave the signal, and Tails pulled the switch. A strange yellow liquid started to enter the chamber. To weak to struggle, the echidna started to choke as metal shards began swirling around him. The chamber filled quickly as Sonic flipped a switch. The metal pieces attached to the echidna's body and penetrated the skin. Instantaneously, parts of his body were converting into mechanical parts. He was trapped, afraid, and helpless. Slowly, the mechanisms started to take control until finally...a robot started to emerge.

"AAAAAAAAAA!"

In that instant, he wakes up, sweating profusely. Knuckles sat up, holding his head in his hands, gasping for air. After a while he sluggishly got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. Breathing deeply, he shook nervously while rinsing off his face with water. He looked at himself in a mirror, staring briefly at his own eyes. "What was that all about?" Back in his room, he glanced at the clock. It was 3:30 A.M. He slowly crawled back into bed and fell asleep hoping he wouldn't have this nightmare again. After tossing and turning for a while, he started to dream. A moment passed before seeing...something very familiar, something he has been through before. He was seeing what happened when he first left the camp, heading out towards Robotropolis...

"Be careful out there. You don't want to get caught," someone said.

"I'll be fine," he said quietly while grinning back at everyone.

He ran off. All the others wished him luck as he gradually disappeared from the horizon. The night sky stormed in and the thundering clouds above gave way, bringing rain along with them. With the cold air blowing, he sneezed constantly, trying to get through the pouring shower. Tracking through mud, he spotted some HunterBots roaming the area. The bots didn't detect anything on their radar as he hid behind some trees. He tried not to move as they passed by. After looking around for more bots, he climbed a tree and started gliding. He continued on for miles, evading the bots that were prying over those areas of Mobius. In other areas, he encountered a few battles taking place between some Fighters and an army of bots. From his point of view, both sides were putting up a good fight, and it looked like the Fighters had the upper hand. Though he wanted to help out, he steered clear, reminding himself that he has a mission to accomplish. Lightning started to strike and he continued sneezing his way through the storm. Finally, Robotropolis was in sight far off the cloudy horizon, where he arrived a few hours later. There he caught a cold and his forehead was rapidly burning up. Lethargically, he hid in an abandoned building just about a mile outside of Robotropolis, waiting for his cold to subside before continuing. The dilapidated building had a similar look to the buildings inside Robotropolis and was on the verge of falling apart, as most of it has already done so. Though only a few of the rooms lay intact, they could give way at any time. Knuckles didn't worry too much about that, since he wouldn't be staying that long. Mold and weeds were growing on the walls and the ceiling. He could tell that this building hasn't been used in quite a long time, yet he was a little surprised at how the building managed to survive the battles that are still taking place.

The rain continued unrelentingly for the next three days. He stayed inside, eating coconuts and grapes he had found along the way. Also, his cold has gone away from having plenty of rest. The storm had cleared on the fourth day, and the echidna took a peek outside. Everything was still muddy from the storm, and the buildings inside Robotropolis had little waterfalls coming from the tops of their roofs. He went back inside and decided to wait another day for everything to dry up. During that day, he did a lot of thinking, mostly on why recent events had occurred. More thoughts of what he did during the war, and how he regretted certain things he did also emerged. It plagued him for hours on end. "Why did this happen? It's all my fault! None of this would've happened if only..." His thought came to an abrupt stop, not wanting to remember that certain day. As soon as the echidna stood up and stretched, he turned and punched the wall behind him, his thoughts going along with crumbling mess. He looked down at the rubble, holding in the agonizing pain. "Tails...I'm sorry..." From inside the abandoned building, he could pretty much see Robotropolis reaching up towards the sky. When he looked through a broken window, someone was dashing towards the dark city. "Who could that be," he asked. Keeping a close eye on the person, he noticed how the person looked, even though he was far away. Just then, a thought raced through his head. "Is that Sonic?!" The person finally entered Robotropolis and disappeared. He ran out of the building in pursuit.

"Sonic! Sonic!!"

From out of nowhere, a laser beam was fired, almost hitting the echidna in the face. He ran back to the building, not turning to see who was firing. No shots were fired after he made it inside. Soon afterwards, night came, and the echidna looked out the window again. The moon was shrouded in a blanket of clouds, beaming light towards the ground. He looked at the astonishing site, and felt at ease. That ease slowly turned into agony as he noticed blood dripping onto his hand. The laser beam that was fired at him grazed his forehead earlier. Every time he touched it, he winced as the pain surged through his head. He had taken out some cloth from his dilly bag and put it over his forehead to stop the bleeding. Until now, the bleeding slowly continued through the drenched cloth. "I wonder who was firing at me," he thought. Before long, he sat down against a wall opposite to the one he destroyed and dozed off.

The next morning came and Robotropolis was still ominous as always. Looking at it from inside the abandoned building, he scanned everything in his view. Even for the dark city nothing was out of the ordinary. At long last, after waiting for a few days, he grabs his stuff and makes his way into Robotropolis. Dashing along, something up ahead caught his attention. As he came closer he noticed it was the same person that was running through here the previous day, but something was different. "That doesn't look like Sonic at all, but he looks similar..." Suddenly, he tripped on something and fell to the ground, dragging and coming to a complete stop a few yards away. After a few moments of recovering a laser gun with something attached to it appeared near where he tripped. He picked it up and examined it. The gun had a timer on it, plus it was malfunctioning. "Was this where the laser blasts came from? Who could've left this here?" He looked out towards where the mysterious person was. The person had already entered the city. Although not very suspicious, Knuckles dusted himself off and heads into the city.

Looking around, he felt a strange aura among the buildings, almost as if someone, or something, was staring back. He went around looking for the Central Data Processing Building, wanting the valuable information that could help the burdened Freedom Fighters. Upon his approach, he turned at a street corner and came to a complete stop. What he saw stunned him senseless. A huge pile of roboticized people lay dead before him. Some had the mechanical parts stripped from their bodies, exposing almost everything. Knuckles was saddened and disgusted, but angry to see something like this, yet he couldn't take his eyes off the hideous sight. Noises were coming from within the heap and someone emerged. That person jumped down from the pile and had some parts in his hands. "Looks like a good haul this time," he said out loud. He put the parts in a sac he was carrying. Groping at how full it was, he noticed a faint shadow on the street. He looked up to see someone standing before him. Frightened, he rushed back into the dark shadows of a building just behind him. He was prepared to make a run for it when Knuckles yelled, "Wait! Don't run away!" The person stood still, showing his gleaming eyes at the echidna.

"What are you doing here," Knuckles asked.

"Y-y-you're one of them!"

"Huh?"

"You're working for that lab brat aren't you?! What are you going to do, roboticize me?" His fear was slowly turning to rage.

"No! I'm a Freedom Fighter!"

The person peeked out from the shadows, only to retreat back in. "A Freedom Fighter?"

Knuckles nodded. "Are you the one who's running in and out of Robotropolis?"

"Yeah."

"What for?"

"That's none of your business!"

"Come out of there. It's not safe to be--"

"I know it's not safe here, but I have to come here anyway! It's not easy being out here on my own."

Knuckles wasn't phased by his interruption and walked into the light hovering above him. The person was startled, not believing what he was seeing.

"You're an echidna!"

Again, Knuckles nodded.

The person thought, "Another echidna! So I'm not alone after all..." He then said, "Now it's my turn to ask what you are doing here."

"It's nothing of your concern."

"Well...don't let me bother you then." He started walking away.

"Wait! Who are you?"

The person stopped and turned. "If you must know, I go by the name Sly. I'm telling you this because I only speak to Freedom Fighters. Just be lucky you're one of them." He dashed off into the darkness.

Knuckles continued his search for the data and found that he wandered through the city for an hour. He avoided all contact with the PatrolBots, who were scouring the entire city. Eventually, he found Central Data Processing and no one saw him. Slowly creeping towards the building, he stepped inside. No one was there. He made his way farther in, searching for any computer consoles that may be nearby. Nothing of use was found. He saw a GuardianBot standing nearby and hid from its view as he made his way to another hall. It was protecting a section that led to the other side of the building, where it was rumored that most of the main data was stored. He saw an air duct on the wall and climbed in. He was relieved to have made it this far. "How am I supposed to get through here?" He noticed some of the air ducts leading into that section were either blocked off or had traps set for capturing anyone infiltrating the area, if they can get this far. Several minutes passed before he saw someone nearby using a Com Device on his wrist. 

"Yes...I'll get right on it," he said. He switched off the device and headed towards the entrance of the building.

A hand covered his mouth as he was pulled upward into the air duct. The echidna's hold over the person's mouth grew stronger as the person tried to squirm his way out.

"Stop now before I have to hurt you!" the echidna whispered loudly.

"Who are you?! What do you want with me?!" the person yelled, his mouth still covered.

"Stop squirming and I'll let you go."

The person calmed down and sat silently. The echidna slowly released his grip but held on to the person's shoulder, just in case he wanted to escape. Both were breathing heavily.

"I'm going to ask you some questions and if you do so much as to even break a sweat I'll kill you!" He held up his other fist, ready to fire at any moment.

"..."

"Why is this section blocked off?" he asked.

"I-I don't know...I don't usually come to this part of the building."

"Why did Robotnik abandon Robotropolis?"

"How am I supposed to know that?! I've only been here for a week."

"You're lying!"

"..."

The echidna continued to interrogate him, asking what was on the other side of the building they were in to whether or not he can escape without being caught. The person refused to talk about why Robotnik left Robotropolis, but the echidna let it slide.

"What's on the other side is top secret, and there's only a few people that know of it. There's no way you'll make it out alive...not with the stuff you're carrying."

"Well then...you'll just have to help me get through this," the echidna said, still holding his fist up.

"Fine...I'll get you in, but it won't be easy," he said, infuriated, but silently he chuckled.

He was let out of the air duct and disappeared into the hall. The echidna held still as the time flew by. A blast of hot air circulated through the duct, making the echidna sweaty. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, a tap was heard from the opening of the air duct.

"Hurry up and get down here!" said the voice below. The echidna looked through the opening and saw a laundry basket on wheels full of dirty linens.

"Since when did Robotropolis have laundry baskets?"

"Shut up and get in!"

The echidna jumped through the opening and into the basket. The smell of the linens made the echidna nauseated. Once completely covered with the linen, the person went to the GuardianBot and showed his ID. The bot released the locks on the door and opened it. After letting the person through, the bot shut the door behind him. All that was here was a strange looking platform on the floor.

"You can come out now," he whispered.

The echidna gasped for air as he came up from horrible smelling linen.

"I thought you said it wouldn't be easy," the echidna said, still gasping for air.

"I did...this is just the entrance to the tunnels that lead to the Top Secret Area. This teleportation device takes us to the tunnels." He pointed to the platform

"How many tunnels are there?"

"Oh...about one hundred. Did I mention that it's a maze?"

"Damn! That'll take too long!"

"Hmph. And I thought you wanted something in there," he said sarcastically.

"Get me in there!" Knuckles grabbed the guy by his lab coat.

The person laughed quietly. "Whatever you say..."

He went over to the control panel next to the platform and asked the echidna to step on. After punching in the last command, he stepped on. The platform started to glow intensely until it flashed brightly. The two disappeared. They reappear inside a dark tunnel where the only thing visible was the platform.

"Incredible," Knuckles thought.

The person swiped his ID tag on a nearby rock face and a false wall opened revealing a Hover Board.

"And you thought it was going to take too long... Hop on!"

Knuckles did just that. The air jets on the Hover Board started up and they blasted away. Knuckles had a hard time seeing where he was being taken since no light source was around. They took many turns into more tunnels, making both somewhat nauseous. The echidna took a glance at the person's ID tag. It had a picture of him at the top and some information below. He could make out his name but not his ID number, since it was partially concealed under his shirt pocket. They continued through the next series of tunnels.

"Hey Kaeru, how much longer?"

"It'll be awhile...hold on!" He didn't notice that he was called by his name.

Knuckles didn't want to reveal that he could glide, so he grabbed on to the person's lab coat. If he did, he would've made a very big mistake.

"We're half way there...getting sick yet," Kaeru asked.

"Not in the least," he said.

The echidna still held on, feeling the force of the Hover Board pushing him off. Kaeru had no problem finding his way through or seeing in the dark since he memorized the maze in its entirety. Anxious to see where he was being taken, the echidna took out a little night vision telescope from his dilly bag, and had a look. He didn't see very much, but he kept an eye at anything that might help him later. He noticed the layout, the objects, and every other detail as they passed through the maze. All the while, Kaeru was thinking to himself, plotting away as the two came closer to the top-secret information.

"I can't believe he's falling for it! What a sucker," his thought continued with, "I didn't think luring a Freedom Fighter into this kind of a trap would be so easy!"

Though the war had ended, some battles still took place around Mobius, and, at times, the ground would shake, but nothing was falling down. Again, they enter the next tunnel, and a few minutes later, another. Kaeru looked at the PatrolBots up ahead and gave them a signal. They silently exchanged information, opened the door the next section of tunnels. The echidna noticed, but didn't know what to make of it. He just held on, quiet, waiting, preparing. Finally, after waiting for hell to freeze over, the two make to the last few tunnels, where light was glimmering at them. Here, no one had access to these tunnels, so Kaeru hops off and goes over to a Com Device to call up Robotnik. While Kaeru wasn't looking, Knuckles sticks something on the under-side of the board and quickly returns to his original stance.

"Sir, I know I don't have the necessary clearance to get access into the section, but I need to get some documents out of the Top Secret Area," he said.

"What are the documents for," Robotnik asked.

"They're for my research project here in Robotropolis, and I need the data to complete my work."

There was a long pause. Kaeru was making gestures, and Robotnik understood them. The echidna was starting to feel a little nervous, hearing nothing but silence. He stayed very still on the Hover Board.

"Very well," Robotnik said, "you can enter when you're ready."

"Thanks, Doc," Kaeru said as he ended the transmission.

He came back to the Hover Board, and continued to fly as the final door opened. A few more turns led to the final tunnel. It expanded into a huge cave, larger than the tallest mountain in the Ice Cap Zone. The echidna saw something in the middle of the cave, which was off in the distance. It was an object contained inside an electric force field. The door behind them closed. They were the only two inside the area.

"Alright, this is the Top Secret Area," Kaeru said.

Knuckles squinted since his eyes were accustomed to the darkness from the trip here. The cave was separated into five chambers, all connected together without any doors. Each chamber had its own computer with certain information stored on them. The echidna dashed over to a console and took out a data rod. He jammed it into a data slot and began to download information. Kaeru did nothing to stop him. He just stood there, watching him. 

"He isn't stopping me... Something must be up," the echidna thought.

Moments later, the download was completed and the data rod was taken out. Turning back towards Kaeru, he became very suspicious. 

"Now that I brought you here, I believe my work is done so--"

"Not so fast," the echidna interrupted. "Tell me what's in that force field." He pointed towards the center of the cave.

They both winced at the shimmering object.

Kaeru gasped, "It's a Star Emerald!" Kaeru was surprised to see one here.

The echidna was shocked. "I knew it! The legend is true," he thought.

"I suppose you're going to take it," Kaeru asked.

"..."

The echidna looked back at Kaeru, then walked up to the emerald, gawking along the way. "I can't believe this is real," he thought. Standing in front of the emerald, he glared continuously until he yelled, "Shut off this force field!"

The force field was turned off and the echidna picked up the emerald. He continued on to retrieve the data from the computer that was nearby where the emerald was.

"Now I got what I came for--"

"And now you want to leave, right?" He chuckled. "I don't think so..."

Several PatrolBots and one GuardianBot appeared from behind a false wall and surrounded the echidna.

"I knew you'd trick me," he said silently.

"You had it coming ever since you forced me to get you in here! Did you really think I'd let you take that and walk away?"

The echidna remained silent.

"Grab him!"

The PatrolBots went after the echidna, speeding around the expanse of the cave. While being chased, Knuckles took out a remote.

"Hey Kaeru, eat this!" He pushed a button on the remote.

The object he stuck on the Hover Board fell off and shot into the air. Once it hit the ceiling, a bright flash came, and then an explosion. Kaeru, though blinded, tried to take cover from the falling debris from what was the ceiling. Only two of the PatrolBots and the GuardianBot remain from the explosion. 

"Well done, echidna," Kaeru said, recovering, "but not good enough!"

The GuardianBot grabbed the echidna and zoomed back into the tunnels. Kaeru made his way out and followed until the GuardianBot was ordered to stop at a certain tunnel. At the end of that tunnel was a cliff, dropping off into a deep abyss. The GuardianBot handcuffed the echidna's wrists and ankles with its own robotic hands. Knuckles tried to break free, but to no avail. Kaeru approached the cliff.

"I'll take this back now," he said, grabbing the emerald from the echidna's hand.

"You can keep it for now...but I'll be back for it!!" He didn't bother to free himself from the bots' hold.

"That's good and all, but...," Kaeru came very close to Knuckles face and whispered, "you can't have it!"

The echidna continued to struggle, wanting to bash the guy's head in. Kaeru did nothing but stare until Knuckles spit in his face. 

"Drop him."

The GuardianBot detached its hands and threw the echidna over the cliff.

"Ka-a-a-e-e-ru-u-u!!"

"What a moron, thinking he can get the best of me. Wait until Robotnik hears about this," Kaeru said, walking back towards the building.

The echidna continued to fall, the ground rapidly approaching his view. It came closer and closer until...

He starts to toss and turn. This time, he found himself in another part of Mobius. He was inside the Launch Base, hiding from bots roaming the place. Everything was in place, even the rocket that was supposed to launch when the war started. A wide assortment of bots spilled into the area, destroying anything that moved. Slowly, he made his way over to a small building. Once inside, he heard something in the next room. Up against the wall, he heard familiar voices talking...

"We must find the rest of those emeralds! They play a major role in this project," one person said.

"I agree. The Master Emerald is our top priority. We have to find it, and fast," said another.

"What about this ancient legend we just recently found out about? What should we make of it," a third person asked.

"We only know little of this legend. The rest of it is encrypted and none of our decoders can translate it."

"Find a way! This project is the best weapon against the Freedom Fighters and we can't afford to mess it up!"

"Right," the other two said.

"Now...I believe our little friend has something to say."

Knuckles was still up against the wall, curious about they were talking about. Just then, he curiosity turned to shock when he heard who was talking.

"I can't believe it! It just can't be..." he thought.

"I've pinpointed several locations where Aunt Sally and the others might be hiding at," the little voice said. Suddenly, he detected something and said, "We have a visitor."

Knuckles gasped. "Looks like I overstayed my visit," he thought.

He made an effort to reach the entrance, but someone was blocking his way.

"Not you again!"

"Ah...we meet again! I hope our conversation was interesting because I'm not letting you leave here alive!"

"Try and stop me!"

Knuckles rammed him, both falling just outside the building. Knuckles covered the person's mouth so wouldn't yell as loud. The person was fighting back, kicking the echidna as hard as he could. He broke free of Knuckles' hold and shouted. Some of the bots that were nearby heard the command and zoomed into the scene.

"This isn't good," Knuckles said frantically as he made a run for it. The bots ensued.

Soon, all the bots were chasing him, getting closer and closer to the echidna. Running as fast as he could, the echidna noticed he was running out of space to run. Dodging a bot that appeared in front of him, another one was close behind it, and with no time to adjust he crashed into it. He fell to the ground, the wind having been knocked out of him. He was quickly surrounded and he made no move to try and escape.

"You put on a very good show, echidna. Perhaps I underestimated you," the person said as he came out from the circle of bots. He walked up to Knuckles and knelt next to him.

"Maybe next time you'll be lucky enough to live." He took out a laser gun and poked Knuckles' chest with it.

"..."

"Sit still while I kill you!"

"No way!" Knuckles grabbed the gun with one hand and punched the guy with the other. The guy reeled back from the hit as Knuckles ran. The bots fired at him, lasers shooting from all directions. One of the lasers successfully hit its target and the bots scramble to apprehend their prey.

"You're pretty fast," the person said. "I'll just have that bot crush you to death since you can't stay still."

The bot understood its command and started crushing. Knuckles screamed as the pressure increased exponentially.

"No! Stop! AAAAA!!!"

"KNUCKLES," Sally yelled.

Knuckles woke up, profusely sweating and gasping for air again. It was already morning and everyone had finished eating breakfast. Sally was looking directly at him, worried about what was going on.

"You must have had one hell of a nightmare," she said with a tender look on her face. "Just stay here and I'll make some breakfast for you."

"Thanks...Sally," Knuckles said quietly. His face blushed slightly.

He sat up, pondering why all these dreams started to plague him. It has been going on for the past few days, ever since Tails had him cornered and knocked out. "What's going on with me..."

*********************************************************************************************

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****

Time for a break!

^_^

Get up, stretch, use the bathroom, do whatever...

This would also be a good time to stop reading here (it's a major section break).

You may continue reading when ready. ^_^;;

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"The last of the setup procedures has been completed, sir."

"Excellent. Have our two guests strapped in."

Robotnik and Snively have been working, along with the help of a few robots, to make their new roboticizer work. The machine was more enhanced from the current version they have been using. Much more compact and simpler in design, both Robotnik and Snively were delighted to have the opportunity to try it on some Freedom Fighters. Two bots carrying Sly and Antoine had already strapped them into the machine and left the room. Sly slowly opens his eyes and begins to look around. Robotnik looked directly at him.

"Hope you had a good rest, you'll need your strength to get through this," Robotnik said, almost grinning.

"What's going on," Antoine asked, sluggishly waking up as well. He freaked out and screamed when Robotnik's face came into view.

"You're inside the newest version of the Roboticizer. Hope you like it."

"Like hell I'm going to like it," Sly said with a calm voice.

"Now don't be that way...we wouldn't want you to spoil all the fun."

"What fun? You really think that roboticizing us will make any difference?"

"Yeah. We could get our free will back with the Freedom Fighters' help," Antoine said.

Antoine screamed again as Robotnik came near and said, "Oh...but this isn't going to turn into a robot just yet. You're about to undergo some tests."

"Tests," Sly and Antoine asked at the same time, looking at each other.

"Don't start without me!"

Everyone looked out towards the entrance of the lab. They saw a person wearing a lab coat with an ID tag clipped on his pocket. He held a large jewel in one hand, holding on to it like a pet.

"Ah...just in time," Robotnik said. " Won't you come have a look at our guests?"

"Sure. The least I could do is introduce myself to our newest recruits."

"What is that supposed to mean," Sly asked.

"Quiet...or I'll--"

"No, no...that's alright," the person said, interrupting Robotnik, "I'll explain it to them, then we'll put them through the tests."

"Very well," Robotnik grunted.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Professor Kaeru Bakudan, scientist and creator of many things mechanical and technological. As you can see, I'm pretty young to be a professor, but hey, I'm a smart guy." He held out his in order to shake Sly and Antoine's hand, but they were 'tied' up at the moment and he put his arm down. Kaeru sarcastically continued with, "Oh...I forgot you were all tied up. Maybe next time...when you're roboticized." He gave an evil grin that angered Sly, but Antoine was slowly freaking out.

"If you're so smart, why are you working for a guy like him...and how old are you," Sly asked.

"The pay is good...that and I can do a lot of things here. If you have to know, I'm twenty years old," Kaeru replied.

"What a joke," Sly thought.

"I believe I've met one of your fellow friends before, but I don't know what happened to him... Anyway, Robotnik already said that you'd be put through some tests. Robotnik and Snively did a good job on building this roboticizer for me." He briefly examined the machine, liking every minute detail of it. "This roboticizer is fool proof! Neither of you will ever regain your will once you're turned into mindless robots!" Robotnik and Kaeru laughed. The helpless Fighters started to fear for the worst. Snively awaited his order...

"Begin," Robotnik said.

Snively turns a knob and the first "test" begins. Both were being probed and scanned, feeling excruciating pain while in the process. The "tests" took about an hour, all of which resulted in Sly and Antoine feeling very weak, almost lifeless. They still felt the pain from all the probing, scanning, electrocution, and suffocation that took place, and all they could do was lift their heads, finding Robotnik and Kaeru sitting in chairs, grinning.

"There...that wasn't so bad now was it," Robotnik said, still grinning.

"You...won't...win...you bastard," Sly said silently, still in pain.

Sly suddenly passed out. Antoine looked over to him, seeing the remnants of the pain they endured just a short time ago. Robotnik and Kaeru started to leave as Tails entered the room, giving Snively a report. He then turned to Antoine and at a leisurely pace walked up to him. He looked up and stared at Antoine, who, was staring right back at him. 

"We'll...get you back soon...Tails..."

Tails continued to stare silently.

"Tails, why don't you take our guests and prepare them for our departure," Robotnik said on his way out. Kaeru had returned to his own lab to continue working.

Snively executed another program, which started to fill the room with gas. Snively left the room while Tails stayed in and watched the two weak bodies fall into a deep sleep. He loosens the straps that were holding them, and took them over to another room where Robotnik and Snively were waiting. With all five in the HoverBot, they take off, taking their time with "dropping off" the two Fighters.

*********************************************************************************************

Feeling better, Knuckles gets out of his room and heads towards the kitchen. It was late in the day; the sun was just about ready to set. Finding the cupboards vacant, he went and found Sally, packing up everything in her room.

"What's going on?"

"We're abandoning the camp," Sally said.

"How come I wasn't informed?"

"You looked very tired from not having a good night's sleep, so I left you alone to rest for awhile."

"I see..."

"Now that you're up, get packing. We don't want any badniks crossing us again."

"Tails...a badnik? I can't believe this..." Knuckles thought, disappointed.

He returns to his room and takes out some storage containers. He dumps everything in without bothering to fix them up first. Once he finished, he took all the containers and put them with the others outside. Nicole was saving all the data she could from the main computer inside the camp. Rotor disassembled all the barrier pods and consoles that were not being used, and Bunnie kept an eye out at Mobius. She had binoculars on her eyes the entire time the others were trashing the camp. Three hours elapsed and everything was packed and ready to go.

"Well, that's it," Rotor said.

"It's about time too. I thought we would never get through this," Sally said.

Bunnie kept looking out at Mobius. She spotted something flying up in the air.

"Oh my stars... Something's coming this way!"

The camp looked like a disfigured rib cage from up above. Tails was flying the HoverBot, but Robotnik and Snively were not inside. Tails dropped them off somewhere, generating a plan to launch the SkySpy II, Snively's handiwork at its best. Tails came close to the camp and opened a hatch. Sly and Antoine came falling out and both hit the ground with a muffled thump. Sally and the others looked on as Tails lifted the HoverBot up into the air and flew out. Bunnie ran down the hill, followed by Knuckles and Rotor. Sally stayed behind, looking out towards where Tails had departed over the horizon.

"Sly! Antoine! Answer me," Bunnie yelled.

There was no reply.

"C'mon! Wake up! Please wake up!"

Still, there was no response.

Sally came down the hill and took Nicole out. She launched Nicole's medical program and the examination began. Sally didn't like the misleading data Nicole gave her.

"They've been through a lot...that's all I can make out," she said.

Gently, Knuckles and Bunnie raised the two off the ground and took them up the hill, where one of the tents was still up. Once there, Sally had Nicole examined Sly and Antoine more extensively. Dark blue bruises were all over their bodies, making Nicole think that they were frozen. Sally configured Nicole's program so that it wouldn't have that problem again. All of them sat around the two limp bodies. Nicole continued the examination and recorded the results. Nicole started to slow down, all because she was using too much memory and her processor couldn't keep up. 

"Do you think they're dead," Rotor asked.

"Now is not the time for stupid questions like that," Sally said.

"Yeah. Besides, they'll make it through, I just know it," Bunnie said.

"Sorry," Rotor whispered.

"What the hell did Robotnik do to them," Knuckles asked angered.

"I'm not sure what he did, but something is definitely wrong..." Sally remarked.

Nicole was making thousands of calculations, only to end up doing more. Sally watched on as Nicole's battery started to drain. Nicole continued to scan Sly and Antoine, searching for a cause to their inflicted pain. The others noticed Sally's disappointment as Nicole revealed the results.

"Nothing came out," Sally said sadly.

Soon, the others were disappointed. Knuckles and Rotor continued to tear down the camp while Sally stayed with Sly and Antoine. She looked at the data that Nicole obtained from the examination, but none of it made sense to her. Bunnie was next to her, watching the expressions on Sally's face change as she continued to decipher the data.

"Don't stress yourself out now, I wouldn't like seeing you pull out your hair," Bunnie said.

"Believe me, I won't be long," Sally said.

She saved the data and turned Nicole off. The battery was taken out and was put inside a little charging device that Rotor gave her. With a battery like Nicole's, it takes almost forever to thoroughly charge. In the meantime, Sally helps the others, continuously thinking about how to go about decoding the data. Bunnie remains with Sly and Antoine, hoping for the best.

"I owe you two a kiss if you make it out of this, and I know you will," she said to them, smiling.

She put some blankets over them, tucking in the edges and folding their arms in. She stood at the entrance of the tent and turned back, staring at the two sleeping peacefully.

"I'll have Knuckles make you some pancakes when you get better," she said chuckling.

Outside, Knuckles had some fun punching holes into some of the walls of the camp though he couldn't help thinking about what happened during the spy mission. "There's so much I didn't say to them...I don't know if I should tell them," he thought. A little upset, he punched harder until the entire wall came down.

"You didn't have to take the whole wall down Knuckles," Rotor said.

"Just letting out some steam," he said.

"Steam? Is something wrong?"

"No...nothing's wrong...just tired I guess."

"I can tell. You haven't been getting much sleep these past few days."

Knuckles was silent. He went over to another wall and started punching again. Rotor stared at him suspiciously. Sally saw the whole thing take place, but for now she did nothing. She later called the two back into the tent to have something to eat. They came in to find Bunnie already eating, and Sly and Antoine still unconscious.

"Seeing that we took all the necessary parts that we need, I suggest we destroy the camp tomorrow," Sally said.

Bunnie gave Knuckles and Rotor a plate and both helped themselves to some food.

"We already stripped the entire place. Why would we have to destroy it," Rotor asked.

"We have lots of computer equipment here, and most of them can't be moved or can't have its memory purged. We have no other choice but to destroy it," Sally said. " It would be really stupid to leave it behind for Robotnik to get a hold of."

"What about the data?"

"I got all the data right here." She held up Nicole. "We won't have any problems since Nicole has the data safely stored in her memory."

"Cool."

"So where are we heading to once the camp is gone," Bunnie asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I haven't been able to contact or send any messages to the other Freedom Fighters, so we may have to wander for awhile."

"How about Azure Lake, no one ever goes out there anymore," Knuckles suggested.

"Not even HunterBots or GuardianBots," Sally asked.

"No...I went there during the spy mission. Everything is untouched."

"What about Hydro City...you went there, right?"

"Yeah...unless you want to die really fast, it's not a good place to go to. Also, we'll be more vulnerable there, and we could be outnumbered too."

"Azure Lake it is," Bunnie said smiling.

"We'll do all the layouts and designs of the camp later. Right now, I want to eat."

Sally takes a plate and fills it with mounds of food. The others stared at her, dropping their utensils as she continued to pile more food onto the plate.

"Are you really that hungry Sally," Bunnie asked in an awkward voice.

"Yeah. I didn't have time to eat lunch today, with Sly and Antoine unconscious and all..."

A big sweat drop appeared on the sides of Bunnie and Rotor's heads. Knuckles continued to eat.

"At least she's eating," Rotor said, watching Sally make quick work of the food.

Everyone finished eating and continued to tear down the remains of the camp. This time, Knuckles stayed with Sly and Antoine, sitting down right next to them. He looked out the door, towards Azure Lake, which was far off the horizon. He sighed; knowing that the information he kept from the others still haunts him. "I hope they're doing the right thing, going to Azure Lake and all," he said to himself. Feeling tired, he grabbed a pillow and a sleeping bag and slid inside. He gave a big yawn as he slowly drifted to sleep. Again, darkness fills his mind, but nothing was there. He walked around for a while, still seeing nothing. A beam of light emerged out of nowhere, and Knuckles made his way over to it. As soon as he was directly under the light, it moved off him, zooming away. Knuckles followed. He trailed it until it came to a complete stop. The light flickered, and a bright flash ensued. Knuckles was blinded by the brightness and covered his eyes. Soon he recovered, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar room surrounding him.

"What am I doing here?!"

He was back inside the Launch Base. No GuardianBots, HunterBots, or even ScavengerBots found anywhere. He went over to the room that once was guarded. Everything was still there, but when turned to exit the room, the door slammed shut. Someone on the other side of the door was laughing.

"Who's out there?! Answer me!"

"Guess..."

Knuckles heard the familiar voice, but couldn't make out who it was. He stood there, contemplating. After awhile he realized that it was...

"Kaeru..."

"Good guess."

Knuckles growled. "Why am I here?"

"First, tell me why you didn't tell them what really happened during the mission."

"What the--," he was surprised that Kaeru knew. "Tell who?"

"Sally and the others. You hid the truth from them. You hid the truth about Tails."

"How do you know about this?"

"Think about that..."

Knuckles tried to think, but he was too outraged from remembering...

"How am I supposed to tell them?! I can't do that! They'll think I betrayed the Freedom Fighters!"

"It's a risk you'll have to take..."

Knuckles was silent. He knew that he would never go against the Freedom Fighters... Back on the Floating Island, Robotnik tricked him into thinking that the Freedom Fighters were the enemy, and made the mistake of giving the Chaos Emeralds to him. He felt the same way again and didn't want to say anything else.

"What's wrong? Are you afraid that the others will abandon you? Do you think that they'll forgive you for what you did?"

"SHUT UP!"

He started punching the door. The dents turned the door into a deformed sea urchin. He continued to let his anger out, throwing punches until finally the door came down. As he stepped outside, he saw no one there.

"Where the hell are you," he yelled, completely enraged.

"I'm everywhere." He laughed. The evil tones in his voice made Knuckles even more upset.

"Show yourself, you stupid bastard!" He yelled so loud that his own voice started to crack up.

"Not until you tell them what happened."

"I didn't do anything! I'm the one who let Tails get captured and roboticized! IT'S NOT MY FAULT!"

"No need to deny it... What a bad temper you have, and a foul mouth to go along with it! It would make for some good use if you were on Robotnik's side."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm saying this: if you were on Robotnik's side, your anger can prove to be a great weapon."

"You're crazy!"

"Am I? You'll be going crazy too. You'll soon find yourself on Robotnik's side, no matter what!"

Knuckles stood still, breathing heavily. He remembered the ambush in the camp, being held in a HunterBot's grasp as Tails was staring at him. He recalled seeing something in Tails' hands.

"Ah...I see you figured it out."

Knuckles stayed silent, still breathing vigorously. He tried to think clearly, but with so much anger surging through him, he couldn't get himself to speak. "What did Tails do to me," he thought. 

"You have something to say, don't you?"

"..."

"You have nothing to say?! Aren't you glad you'll be on Robotnik's side again?"

"I won't turn against my friends, or the Freedom Fighters!" His voice was on the brink of failing, and his throat was rapidly drying up.

"Here's you chance to prove it..."

Thousands of GuardianBots appeared before Knuckles and surrounded him. Along with them, Sally and the others also came into view. Knuckles looked all around him, but when his eyes came to one of the buildings of the Launch Base, he stopped. He saw someone walking up to him, making sounds only a robot would make.

"Sonic..." Knuckles said softly. 

Knuckles didn't bother to move. Sonic was now standing before him, staring at him. The GuardianBots came closer, and was not more than a few away. Rotor and Bunnie came out in front of the bots, and stood next to Sonic. Both of them had laser guns drawn.

"What are you waiting for?" The voice was louder than it was before. "Aren't you going to fight?"

"..." Knuckles was too distraught to do anything. He was still staring at Sonic, fighting off the rage that wanted him to attack.

The voice chuckled silently. "You disappoint me Knuckles. I can't help but laugh, yet I feel I should do something."

Finally, he appeared above Knuckles. Slowly he drifted down to the ground. Standing in between Sonic and Knuckles, he looked at the two staring. Knuckles looked at him, feeling more rage, yet felt helpless. Continuing to chuckle, Kaeru stretched his arm and put his hand on the echidna's shoulder.

"It's time to die."

His hand started glowing, prompting Knuckles to make a run for it. The GuardianBots made a path and let him through, not bothering to fire a single shot. Knuckles looked back to find Kaeru just standing there, holding his arm out, hand still glowing. He ran faster, but soon stopped dead in his tracks. Kaeru was now standing in front of him. He lowered his head, as if in shame, and clenched his fists together. 

"Awww...you look so helpless...what a pity." His hand started to glow even brighter.

"Ya-a-a-a-a-a-h!" Knuckles began punching, harder with each blow. He saw that his punches had no effect and he stopped, whimpering softly.

"FIRE!!"

All the GuardianBots fired their lasers, along with laser blast that was glowing in front of Knuckles. Sonic gave the final blow with his cannon.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Once again, Knuckles wakes up...

*********************************************************************************************

The Aquatic Ruins Zone was as normal as usual, with its marshy swamps and its decaying buildings. The SkySpy II was resting on a launch pad, awaiting its launch. Snively works feverishly to keep up with the tight schedule. The satellite had to be ready to go before Robotnik came back, which was not long from now. Tails came here after stopping by the ruined camp. He stood guard as the final adjustments made are completed. With the last part put into place, Snively climbs down from the satellite and hands his toolbox to Tails. The fox went over to the HoverBot, placed the box inside, and returned to where he was standing. 

"Finally...I thought I'd never finish," he said, dripping with sweat. 

"He's coming," Tails said, looking up above the horizon at the approaching vessel.

"He's a little early."

Robotnik landed in a nearby patch of muddy grass. Snively tried not to walk over to the craft, knowing that those patches of grass were poisonous. Robotnik moved the HoverBot away from the grass using the machines two front extension arms. While the craft was dragging, Robotnik yelled, "Is the satellite ready?"

Snively yelled back to him, "As ordered, sir."

The craft came to a stop several yards from the satellite. A set of stairs emerged from the side of the HoverBot and Robotnik climbed out. He was ready to inspect Snively's ultimate creation. Not one detail was overlooked as the fat man hunched over to see the electric components attached to the satellite. It took him few minutes to complete his inspection, and at the moment he finished, he gave Snively a grin.

"Looks like you outdid yourself this time, Snively," Robotnik said.

"I guess I did," Snively said, unenthusiastically looking at the satellite.

"Now then...let's get the fuel and fill the tanks."

"The fuel?" Snively just realized that he had forgotten the fuel when they left earlier that day.

"YOU FORGOT THE FUEL?!" Robotnik grabbed Snively by his neck and held him up in the air.

"Well...I-I...err..."

"Looks like someone forgot to bring something along with them!" Kaeru appeared in another HoverBot and landed near Robotnik's craft.

"At least someone in this group is competent," Robotnik mumbled as he threw Snively to the ground.

"Here's the fuel for the satellite. I also brought the jewel with me in case you want to see it," Kaeru said.

"Good. Anything new to report?"

"Of course," Kaeru said, handing Robotnik the large jewel.

All four gathered around as Kaeru began to speak.

"It turns out that those implanted chips seem to be working on our three test subjects. Our first victim is having some side effects from the chip after I attempted to 'brainwash' him. He seems to be resisting, but I think I can work my way around it. As for the other two, they have yet to awake from all that testing we put them through."

"Are you sure this part of the project is going to work?"

"Of course it will, Doc. I already proved to you that my work is fail proof," Kaeru said as he pointed towards Tails.

"Well, just see to it that it stays that way."

"Right."

"Any information on this legend?"

"None so far. There's no way I can get the computers to translate the files. Whoever made them encrypted them very well."

"Keep trying! I don't want any details to go unused."

"Sure thing, Doc."

"By the way, you happen to know what this is, don't you? What is this jewel?"

"It's a Star Emerald. From what I know, this particular treasure has something to do with that legend."

"Really? Make sure no one touches this," Robotnik said as he gave the jewel back the Kaeru.

"This legend of the Star Emeralds is hard to understand. Only three of these emeralds exists. So far, that's all I know about it."

"I'm sure we'll find the other two soon," Robotnik grinned.

Kaeru nodded.

"Snively! Let's get these tanks filled!"

"Yes, sir." Snively said, quickly getting off the ground.

All four went about filling the fuel tanks on the rocket. Since there were three HoverBots at their disposal, they lifted the fuel into the tanks and the rocket filled to capacity. They landed just in time to see the sun set out on the horizon.

"Looks like we're gonna have a little night show now, aren't we," Kaeru asked, watching the sun drift closer to the horizon.

"We sure will," Tails said, also looking at the sun.

*********************************************************************************************

The sun had just set over the horizon as darkness sets in throughout the camp. Knuckles turned on a lantern and set it on a stand. He turned to see the clock. Four hours had past since he fell asleep. "Why can't I stop having these stupid nightmares? It feels like I'm being torn apart," he thought. He turned to see Sly and Antoine still unconscious. After getting up and stretching, he heard a moan just as he stepped out of the tent. Knuckles turned back to see Sly sitting up.

"Sly? You're awake," Knuckles asked.

"Yeah...but I feel pretty nauseous."

"Just rest for a while."

Sly held his throbbing head as he said, "Man...what a headache!"

"Now...about our encounter in Robotropolis..." Knuckles started.

"I've been wondering all this time about how I knew we would meet again," Sly said.

"What were you really doing there?"

"If you haven't noticed, I was gathering parts. I tried to make the use out of what I found. So far, I've only been able to make pineapple grenades, but all those parts are useless now that there aren't any power rings left."

"So you had no intention of fighting Kaeru or Robotnik?"

"So that's the lab brat's name... Well, I figured it'd be too much if I went at it alone."

"No one can go at it alone these days."

"True."

"Do you remember anything when Tails raided the camp?"

"All I remember is waking up in a jail cell with Antoine. Then, we both woke up strapped into this new roboticizer, and now we're here."

"Damn! I knew those they wouldn't let us remember anything," Knuckles thought. He then said to Sly, "Get some rest for now. I'll go see the others."

"..."

Knuckles yawned as he stepped out of the tent. He walked across the campfire and over to the other tent, where he heard Sally's voice.

"Why can't Nicole translate this? This is impossible," she said, frustrated.

"Leave it alone for now. Let's try the Holo-Projector again," Rotor said.

Sally took out the projector and attached it to Nicole. Nicole immediately went straight to work.

"Sally...need to find...has access to...Robotnik's base is...get Tails away...out near...power rings are...not much time...get out before...responsible for kidnapping...name is..."

"It's still the same as before," Bunnie said.

"Perhaps you should have Nicole try and filter out the background noise."

Sally, Bunnie and Rotor look towards the tent's entrance to see Knuckles standing there.

"We tried. No dice," Rotor said.

"Nice of you to wake up, and just in time too," Sally said. "I was just about to check up on you guys right after deciphering what Sonic was trying to say."

"Just to let you know, Sly woke up about the same time I did."

"Sly is awake?! We'll check up on him once we're done here," Sally said.

Again, Nicole played back Sonic's message. This time, they were able to make out something they haven't heard before.

"Sally...need to find the star...has access to...Robotnik's base is...get Tails away...out near...power rings are...not much time...get out before...responsible for kidnapping...name is...they're planning to..."

Nicole tried to finish the recording, but the projector had damage beyond repair, causing it to stop before the recording was completed.

"Looks like we got more of the puzzle," Sally said, surprised.

"We should check up on Sly, "Bunnie said. "I owe that kid a kiss."

The three left the tent, leaving Knuckles behind. He just stood there watching the others enter the other tent.

"Sonic has to be out there. He probably knows what's going on," Knuckles thought.

Inside the other tent, Sally had Nicole ready and started to examine Sly. 

"I'm fine, really. I just have a big headache though," Sly said.

"Maybe this'll make you feel better," Bunnie said. She came up to Sly's cheek and kissed it. His face blushed slightly.

"That wasn't necessary," Sly said.

"I just felt like doing it, sugar."

Knuckles finally reappeared in that tent. He sat down right where he was sleeping earlier and watched the others.

"You seem to be fine, Sly. But..." Sally was staring at Nicole's screen. 

"What's wrong," Sly asked.

"Nicole's picking something up on Sly's neck."

They all gather around to see what it was.

"A scar," Knuckles gasped.

"Just like the one you have, Knuckles," Rotor gasped.

Bunnie checked to see if Antoine had one as well.

"Antoine has it too!"

"How did those scars get there," Sally asked.

"I don't know too much, but it has to do with what Tails did to me," Knuckles said.

"Tails did that to you," Sally asked.

"Yeah, and I bet they went through something similar too."

"What could they have done in order for you to get that scar?"

Knuckles was silent. He growled softly as he remembered Tails being captured...

"Something wrong, Knuckles," Bunnie asked.

"Well...umm...I..."

"C'mon, Knuckles. You can tell us," Bunnie said.

Knuckles stayed silent for a few moments. The others looked on as he lowered his head, staring at the floor.

"It has to do with Tails..."

"Tails," the others asked, looking at each other.

"I was just outside of Knothole during the battle. When I heard Antoine screaming, I knew something was wrong. I saw someone running away from where Antoine was. I also saw Tails being carried away, but he wasn't fighting back. As I went to rescue him, I tripped over a tree trunk and fell. Kaeru saw me and had his bots apprehend me. He knew I was coming for Tails, so he challenged me to rescue him. What I didn't realize at the time was that he had only one bot, which released me just at that moment. It looked too east to be a challenge..."

Knuckles was once again silent.

"Who's Kaeru, and what did he make you do," Rotor asked.

"Kaeru is Robotnik's newest minion. All I know is that he's too smart for his age," Sly said.

"That's true," Knuckles said softly. A moment later he continued with, "Kaeru had me run around looking like a fool, all for his own enjoyment." He growled as he said, "All that time he had no intention of releasing Tails, even after challenging me!"

"Something tells me this isn't good," Bunnie said.

"You're right, it's not good," Knuckles said.

"So what happened," Sly asked.

"He wanted to fight...the winner would get Tails. Unfortunately, the fight didn't last very long because Kaeru had actually lured me into his trap." He paused briefly before continuing. "A bot knocked me to the ground as they fled with Tails. I tried to go after them, but the bots overpowered me and I had no choice but to flee." Knuckles started to grind his teeth. "If it wasn't for me, none of this would've happened."

Everyone stayed still, not wanting to say anything. After a few minutes, Knuckles spoke.

"I have to get going..."

"Wait! What about--" Rotor hesitated.

"Don't worry about me...I'll do my part of the mission."

Knuckles dashed out of the tent and started to glide off the hill. The others just looked at opening of the tent. They all had a concerned look on their faces, except for Sly, whose head was still throbbing.

"I hope he knows what he's doing," Rotor said.

"I hope so too," Sally said.

Gliding towards the Floating Island, Knuckles' mind was racing like crazy. He couldn't get himself to think straight, but he tried to calm down. "It's all my fault Tails got roboticized! The only way to correct this mistake is to save him, no matter what happens," he thought. He continued gliding, the moon shining brightly above him. Bunnie was outside, and she could see him slowly disappearing off the night sky.

"Take care, Knuckles..."

Just then, Bunnie noticed a shooting star in the sky and silently made a wish...

*********************************************************************************************

****

End of Part Two

*********************************************************************************************

Part Three Preview:

Sally or Kaeru...who will learn more about the Star Emerald Legend? Meanwhile, Knuckles discovers something on the Floating Island while Sally and the others separate, starting the search for Sonic. What will happen next? Read part three to find out! Please be patient…I'm working on it as fast as possible! ^_^;;;

C: 5.19.2000

R: 5.20.2000

[Dragon Star Slayer's House][5]

(Still under construction... -.-)

   [1]: mailto:dragonstarslayer@dbzmail.com
   [2]: http://sonicfoundation.org/fanfic/dragonstarslayer/part1/SonicFanficPart1Updated.html
   [3]: http://dragonstarslayer.tripod.com/SonicFanficPart1-b.html
   [4]: http://www.fortunecity.com/underworld/cheatcode/966/SonicFanficPart1-b.html
   [5]: http://dragonstarslayer.tripod.com/



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